Car brake



W. H GROW. cAR BRAK E APPLICATION FILED oer-6.1921. 4

lafnted Sept. 26, 1922.

ice.

WILLIAM H, GROW, OF GRAFTON, VEST VIRGINIA.

CAR BRAKE.

Application filed: October 6, 1921.

T aZZ whomit may concern:

Be it known that I, VVILLIAM H. Uraow, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Grafton, in the county of Taylor and State of est Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car Brakes, of which the following is a specification.

i This invention relates to brakes especially designed for use in connection with railway cars, and the said invention has for an object the provision of novel means whereby a set of elements may be employed to produce a brake structure which will operate-as a right hand or a left hand brake with equal eiiiciency, the said elements being readily assembled and rigidly connected togetherto produce a durable brake unit, including a compression member, a strut or post, a tension rod and reversible brake heads.

it is an object of this invention furthermore to produce noyel means wherein, by a simple expedient of readjustment, the parts may be assembled to operate as a right hand or a left hand brake, obviating the necessity of carrying in stock a multiplicity of parts, as compared with the requirements under normal conditions as they now exist in railway supply shops and depots.

It is a further object of this invention to produce a brake of the character indicated, adapted for use in connection with compression members or beams of diflerent configurations, making it possible by the use o comparatively few members, to produce a brake structure having the characteristics indicated.

\Vith the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in the details of construction, and in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this application wherein like characters denote correspond ing parts 'in the several views, and in which Figure 1 illustrates a plan view of a brake unit embodying the invention;

Figure 2 illustrates a perspective view of a strut or red;

Figure 3 illustrates a perspective view of the same at a position at right angles to that shown in Fig. 2;

Serial-N10. 505,852.

Figure 4 illustrates an elevation of a brake head;- i

Figure 5 illustrates a front view thereof;

F igure'G illustrates an end view of the compression member; and j Figures 7 and 8 illustrate end views of compression members having different cross sectional configurations.

In. these drawings, 10 denotes a compression member which in the present embodiment of the inventlon is V-shaped in cross section and the said compression member is embraced at a point between its ends and preferably at its center by a yoke or clip 11, through which a securing-element 12 such as a bolt may extend. The yoke embraces the strut or post 13 at either end; That is to say, the strut or post is reversible and has its ends beveled as at 14 to fit thecontour of the compression member, in order that either end of the strut may be assembled to connect to the yoke and compression member. To that purpose, the strut has a shoulder 15 near each end, and a shoulder is provided on each side near each end, and apertures 16 are also formed in the strut, in order that the end'thereof which is secured to the yoke, may receive the fastening 12, for it is by this fastening that the yoke, compression member and strut are held in assembled relation to each other. The strut has: the usual lever slot 17 and the usual aperture 18 for the fulcrum of the brake lever, all M which will be-understood by those skilled in the art. It is the purpose of the inventor that through the means pIOVidGClS'fOr in-v verting or transposing the position of the strut to adapt it for either a right hand or a left hand operation with the brake actuating mechanism, each end of the strut is further provided with a slot 19 forming a seat for :1 tension rod 20, regardless of the end of the strut that extends outwardly from the compression member.

The brake heads 21 are reversible on the compression member, and to that end, they are provided with slots or seats 23 which, when formed, will be of the contour of the compression member in connection with which they are to be used. Of course if they were to be used in connection with the compression members shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the seats would have the contour of the member which they were to receive. The heads are also provided with apertures 25 mechanism, as now commonly employed,

to receive the ends of the tension roe, said tension rod extending through the head and the parts being secured in assembled re lation by ifastenings such as nuts 26 threaded on the ends of the tension roe. Each head is provided with an apertured lug or ear 27, in order that either end, when uppermost, may have the usual hangings or connections employed in connection with brake heads. By means of the construction just indicated, it will be observed that the brake head may be placed on either end of the com ression member, and owing to its reversible nature, it will operate as a right hand or a left hand brake head. The brake shoe, which is of ordinary construction and removably secured to the head is such as is now commonly employed. on car brakes, and the said brake shoe and its fastening to the head need not, it is thought, be shown.

Should compression members of the con figuration of those illustrated in Figs. 'i' and 8 be employed, the ends of the strut which are shown as beveled at in could, with advantage, be shaped to conform to the contour of the surface of the compression member which they are intended to engage, but this is an obvious expedient and need not, it is thought, be illustrated.

in the assembling of the oralre and its operating mechanism, the said operating ill have a lever extending through the slot 17, and the direction in which the lever extends will depend upon the position oi? the str t with relation to the compression member, has been explained, and obviously, the lever can be mounted on a pivot which will ex tend through the aperture 18.

I claim:

1., in a car brake, a compression member, heads therefor, the said heads having sockets to receive the compression member and having apertures to receive a tension rod, the said heads having shoe engaging surfaces of like contour above and below the compresthe sion member, apertured lugs near each end of the said brake heads, reversible strut having one end attached in assembled relation to the compression member, a tension rod en aging the outer end of the compression member and having its ends extending through the brake heads, and means for securing the strut, the compression member and the brake heads in assembled relation to each other,

2. In a brake, a compression member comprising a channel iron, heads having sockets of the configuration of the channel iron to which they are applied and shoe engaging surfaces of like contour above and below the sockets on each side of the said sockets, apertured ears each end of the head, a reversible strut having a slot therein, means for securing either end of the s rut to the compression member, a tension rod engaging the end of the strut remote from the compression member, said tension rod extending through the heads when the heads are on the CODflPIQSSlOIl member, and means on the ten sion rod for holding the parts in assembled. relation to each other.

3. In a brake, a compression member comprising a channel iron, heads having sociiets of the configuration of the channel iron to which they are applied and shoe engaging surfaces of like contour above and below the sockets on each side of the said sockets, apertured ears at each end of the head, a reversible strut having a slot therein, and slots in the ends thereof-forming seats, means for securing either end of the strut to the compression member, a tension rod engaging the end of the strut remote from the compression member and lying in the slot in the end 01 the strut which it engages, said tension rod extending through the heads when the heads are on the compression member, and means on the tension rod for holding the parts in assembled relation to each other.

WILLIAM H. GROW. 

